With Z*E*R*O on his heels, Doug Ramsey, aka Revelation, arrives in Alaska seeking the X-Men’s help. Beset on all sides, the Alaska team could use a powerful new ally, but Revelation is not just an old friend, he’s the heir of Apocalypse. Y’know, from the series Heir of Apocalypse! And what new age could such an alliance usher in? Perhaps an Age … of DOUG? X-Men #22 is written by Jed MacKay, drawn by C.F. Villa, colored by Fer Sifuentes-Sujo and lettered by Clayton Cowles.
Hi, it’s me, the X-Men (2024) apologist. I’ve barely written about it, but I like this series. Is it Jed MacKay’s best? No. It’s nowhere near as career defining as his work on Moon Knight or Black Cat, but team books are almost always more difficult. You have to juggle a whole cast of first-on-the-call-sheet characters and, in the case of this book, a bunch of random blorbos that allow middle-aged men like me to go, “OH SHIT, it’s that guy from the ‘90s!”
(Said blorbos have included Trevor Fitzroy, Sugar Man, Astra, Joseph, King Bedlam, Regular Bedlam and Locus.)
And look, that was part of the charm of the ‘90s animated series, right — putting random characters in the background so viewers who were steeped in the comics could do the Leo Point.
But on the whole, MacKay’s done a fine job of writing a character-focused team book whose one-off adventures eventually coalesced into a larger narrative, climaxing in this issue which sends us off into fall’s linewide “Age of Revelation” event.
BUT.
Reading this issue, I found a few … mistakes? No, that’s not the right world. Discrepancies? Maybe. Depends on what the creative team intended, which we can’t know. Plot thingies! That’s it. I found a few plot thingies that bothered me. Here now, I will delineate them.
Fitzroy was right?
Taken into custody after the team’s showdown with the Upstarts last issue, time-traveling hipster-haired posterior pain Trevor Fitzroy comments on the X-Men throwing him in jail as if that were a new low for them. He says this specifically to Temper, who spent a good portion of the First Krakoan Age in The Pit, a prison for problematic mutants. And that’s not even the first time the X-Men had a jail on an island — remember the X-Brig on Utopia? And then there was the extended period they kept Sabretooth prisoner underneath the mansion in the ‘90s — y’know, the decade that many of this book’s villains came from? Sure, ol’ Chuck characterized Sabretooth’s imprisonment as an aggressive form of therapy, but guess what, it didn’t take.
And Tarot was her name-oh.
You may recall in X-Men #10, Cyclops sent a team of Hellions — King Bedlam, Regular Bedlam, Boom-Boom, Locus and Fantomex — on a mission to F with O*N*E. That was in exchange for a favor Cyclops owed King Bedlam. As revealed this issue, the favor was capturing and turning over Fitzroy, who murdered King Bedlam’s girlfriend, the original Hellion Tarot, along with all her teammates, in his first appearance in 1991’s Uncanny X-Men #281.
But Tarot was un-murdered a while ago. A couple times, in fact. Sure, we saw her on Krakoa, but she originally came back as a ghost(?) in the John Francis Moore-penned late-’90s X-Force story that introduced King Bedlam. She also came back during the late-2000s “Necrosha” event, although that was temporary. But she also was the villain in a one-off Spider-Man/Deadpool issue from 2016 written by and guest starring magicians Penn & Teller, in an appearance that can best be described as inexplicable.
The point is, Tarot’s alive (as far as we know), so why seek revenge on a murder that’s been undone at least three times? Don’t get me wrong, Trevor Fitzroy sucks out loud, I’m just saying the motivation is flawed.
X-Men kill all the time
You could forgive Beast his ignorance in saying the X-Men don’t kill. He’s a clone that was reset to the New Defenders after the previous version did all of the war crimes. Including murder.
But also, Hank’s been doing his research since then and knows what he and other folks have been up to, in which case he should know that pretty much all the X-Men have killed at one point or another. Wolverine’s done it. Psylocke’s done it (and admitted it this issue). Storm’s done it. Jean’s done it (Now and forever, she is the cosmic force that killed the broccoli people). Marrow’s done it. Colossus has done it. Nightcrawler’s done it. Temper’s done it (it caused Schism!). And last issue, Juggernaut did it, killing the Upstart Ocelot.
But also, last month I podcasted about a comic from 2006 in which the Juggernaut told Pete Wisdom he doesn’t kill. A lot can change in 20 years of publishing time, and part of last issue’s plot was to get Juggernaut to question his policies on murder, but it’s nevertheless worth pointing out that while not explicitly a pro-murder squad, over 60+ years the X-Men have done many, many murders.
Also, quick note to C.F. Villa: Glob Herman is not jacked. He’s a big, round, squishy gummy bear of a man. Bioparaffin wax skips leg day.
Wait, no he wasn’t!
In reminding Cyclops but mostly readers who he is, Doug Ramsey says he’s been a member of the New Mutants (true), X-Factor (he had sex with a robot in that one), X-Force (I have been informed this is true), the X-Men (you sure about that?), really any mutant paramilitary squad with an “X” in it.
First of all, he’s hung around the X-Men plenty, but unless someone in the CXF Slack corrects me, he’s never been an official member. Also, that’s not all the paramilitary X-squads. You were never on Excalibur (Douglock doesn’t count; that was Warlock pretending to look like you or something). You were never on Generation X. You weren’t one of the Academy X kids. You weren’t one of the X-Statix. You weren’t one of the X-Men 2099. You weren’t in X-Club. Why you lyin’, Doug?
Much like the X-Men don’t kill,
There were three X-Men elections on Krakoa. You were there. You led the team. Glob dressed up like Steve Kornacki. X-Factor fans got mad about losing Polaris. Everyone was mad about Firestar. The last team was famously smashed to bits by a murder robot. What are we even doing here?
Gonna take you for a ride
This isn’t a nitpick, I just like these two pictures. Why tear apart comics when you can play Marvel vs. Capcom? Great pull, C.F. Villa!
Look, we know from 40 years of intracompany crossovers that it’s always tough right before. You run out of space to make a happy birthday sign. You have to find a way to wrap up all your plots because you don’t know if your book is coming back after or it’s getting relaunched with a new #1 and a new creative team. Things get dropped. Mistakes are made. Artists forget Glob Herman isn’t yoked. But it’s weird seeing this many eyebrow raisers in a single comic that’s supposed to be the flagship of the X-line. I’d hope everyone gets a moment to breathe and right the ship, but seeing as we’re headed into a major X-event, that doesn’t seem very likely.
Buy X-Men #22 here. (Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, ComicsXF may earn from qualifying purchases.)
Dan Grote is the editor and publisher of ComicsXF, having won the site by ritual combat. By day, he’s a newspaper editor, and by night, he’s … also an editor. He co-hosts The ComicsXF Interview Podcast with Matt Lazorwitz. He lives in New Jersey with his wife, two kids and two miniature dachshunds, and his third, fictional son, Peter Paul Winston Wisdom. Follow him @danielpgrote.bsky.social.
